Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
741. Deputy Sean Fleming asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the date on which the local government efficiency review implementation group was established; the person who is chairman of this group; the membership of same; the number of meetings that have been held; the number of reports and conclusions issued; the action taken or to be taken as a result of the process [48583/12]
View answerThe local government efficiency review implementation group was established on 29 April 2011. The Implementation Group is independently chaired by Mr. Pat McLoughlin (Chief Executive, Irish Payments Services Organisation, and former chairperson of the Local Government Efficiency Review Group). In addition to the Chair, the members of the Implementation Group are as follows;
Mr. Des Dowling, Assistant Secretary, Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government
Mr Garrett Fennell, Managing Director, GFC Consulting Ltd.
Mr. David Hearn, Consulting Partner in Charge, Deloitte
Ms. Anne O’Keeffe, Former Director, Office of Local Authority Management
The Group has met on sixteen occasions to date and submitted its first interim progress report to me in December 2011 which I asked to be developed further. A revised progress report was submitted and has been published on my Department’s website at www.environ.ie.
Direct savings identified in the Local Government Efficiency Review due to efficiency measures in local government are estimated as totalling €345m, comprising some €195m achieved in the period 2010 to 2011 and estimated further savings of €150m to be achieved in the period up to the end of 2013. These savings have been achieved to date primarily from areas such as staffing and procurement and I expect that further efficiency savings will continue to accrue in these areas and also into the future following the examination of a shared services approach across a number of programmes, particularly in relation to treasury management, transactional HR, shared payroll systems, and ICT back office functions. This estimate does not include any reductions in expenditure due to reduced activity.
The focus of the Group is on furthering efficiency gains and in this context, it is working closely with the local government sector in examining a wide range of business processes that could yield significant efficiency savings should they be delivered through a shared services or a lead authority approach. I am advised that the Implementation Group is currently drafting its next progress report, which I expect to have submitted to me shortly.
